With growing threats not only in the physical world but also in today’s nebular cyber world, Christopher Painter ’80 argued that “cyber is the new black,” meaning that “everyone cares about cyber” now.

Painter, who has been at the forefront of cyber issues for the last 25 years, addressed growing security concerns and the role of modern cyber-diplomacy at the 2017 Bartels World Affairs Fellowship Lecture this Wednesday.

Painter, the “weary warrior” of cyber warfare for his entire career, started his career as a prosecutor dealing with cyber cases and served as the U.S. State Department’s first coordinator for cyber issues from 2011 until July this year.

While studying at Cornell in 1979, Painter used punched cards for computer programming and played hundreds of sessions of BakéGyamon, an anime computer game, for his work study. Back then, Painter reflected, “the internet … existed in very basic form. The world wide web certainly didn’t exist.”

But technology has come far since; today, “we are all dependant [on the internet] for financial transactions, social transactions and to communicate really for everything,” Painter said.

However, though this rapid technological innovation has largely “been a tremendous force for good,” it does not come without its dangers.

“[The internet] has been the target of criminals, malicious state actors, terrorists and others,” Painter said.

Therefore, it is essential to find the balance, so that we are “not trading security for openness … but having all these things together,” Painter said.

“Back then, people looked at computer hackers as Robin Hood’s,” Painter said, because the common citizen’s information was not stolen, nor were they personally threatened.

This is no longer the case for the common citizen today.

In 2000, Painter was involved in a case that seemed to be a sophisticated, dangerous attack because it was on a global scale, but in reality, it was a fourteen-year-old Canadian boy, called the “MafiaBoy,” hacking computers.

His acts, Painter said, “had really a disproportionate effect and demonstrates the asymmetric nature of the technical threat.”

On a more serious note, Painter discussed the time North Korea hacked into Sony to pull back the distribution of an image, in which the country was “not only hacking into a system but was meant to curtail freedom of expression rights,” he said.

Taking this a step further, Painter highlighted a major concern regarding cybersecurity: “the fear of a debilitating attack against our infrastructure,” he said, pointing to possible examples of taking down the water system and the power system.

Painter said plainly, “It would have long-term, terrible consequences” as “not just a cyber but as a physical event.”

Therefore, “we have to be cognisant of these threats going forward,” he said.

These threats transcend individual hackers to entire nations, with different states having different visions for the future of technology.

Whereas much of the Western world is open about sharing information, Russia and China are among the countries that “want absolute sovereignty in cyberspace,” Painter said.

“The internet is not run by states — not run by government,” Painter said.

Although governments have influence over the internet to some extent, the private sector is involved, too, as Painter explained, so it is an international issue that different groups of people have to confront together.

Painter believes international law should apply to cyberspace as it does to the physical world. There are a set of norms many countries agree to, such as the idea that a nation should not attack infrastructures meant for the public good.

“You have to get countries around the world to embrace this to really make these norms stick,” he said.

So, how do we deal with the issue of cybersecurity?

Painter said, “It all comes down to the role of diplomacy — in all of this, the role of building alliances and shaping the environment and showing international cooperation is really paramount.”

To better help users with disabilities, Android has a set of Accessibility Services that developers can use to improve their applications.

Googlehas warned app developers not to use its Accessibility Services – designed for users with disabilities – for other purposes that may create security issues, adding that it will remove such apps from its Play Store. To better help users with disabilities,Androidhas a set of Accessibility Services that developers can use to improve their applications.

“Google is most likely cracking down on Accessibility Services use due to security reasons. While applications like LastPass use the available APIs to identify password fields in other apps, this level of access can be used maliciously,” tech portal Android Police reported on Monday.

Google has sent an email to developers, stating that “unless developers can describe how the app properly uses the Accessibility Services to help users who are disabled, it will need to remove all requests for accessibility services or it will be taken off of the Play Store”, 9to5Google reported.

Apps like LastPass, Universal Copy, Clipboard Actions, Cerberus, Tasker and Network Monitor Mini use Accessibility Services.
The new directive could have major ramifications for several apps, especially those intended for customisation or power users.

“All violations are tracked. Serious or repeated violations of any nature will result in the termination of your developer account, and investigation and possible termination of related Google accounts,” Google said.

Directors increasingly find themselves held accountable for cybersecurity breaches at their companies. Despite a movement to hold company directors responsible for security breaches at their organization, nearly 40% of in-house attorneys and general counsel fail to disclose security issues h to their board, according to a survey by ALM Intelligence…

The UK Government Has Issued Guidelines To Car Makers To Ensure Internet Connected Cars Are Protected From Hacking Vulnerabilities… THE UK GOVERNMENT has issued guidelines requiring makers of internet-connected cars to ensure are better shielded against cyber vulnerabilities. According to the British Government, it is concerned that ‘smart’ vehicles which…

The Department of Homeland Security and Siemens Healthineers have issued advisories detailing security vulnerabilities of four of the company’s diagnostic imaging systems. Even an attacker with a low skill level would be able to exploit the vulnerabilities, Siemens warns. The vulnerable systems are Windows 7-based versions of the following systems:…

Apple issued a new warning after a new hacking threat. The tech giant says there is a new cyber threat, but has taken steps to thwart the attack. FOX Business Network’s Tracee Carrasco reports, “Apple has now issued a critical security patch for all iOS devices and for Mac computers…

In 2015, the FBI used a single warrant, issued by a single judge, to hack into and search more than 8,000 computers in 120 countries around the world. The government designed software to infiltrate computers and bypass security- and privacy-enhancing …
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One of the latest and most ambitious studies on bullying and cyberbullying in middle and high school students begs to differ with the age-old adage, “sticks and stones can break my bones, but names can’t hurt me.” The study, conducted by researchers at Florida Atlantic University and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (UW-EC), used a nationally-representative sample of 5,600 children between the ages of 12 to 17 years old to address various forms of bullying and cyberbullying, sexting and dating violence, as well as thoughts of suicide, deviant behavior, and resilience or coping mechanisms.

Sameer Hinduja, Ph.D., a professor of criminology and criminal justice within FAU’s College for Design and Social Inquiry and co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center, and Justin W.

It seems kids grow up too fast in today’s world. With social media and news available 24/7 it’s hard to shield them from some adult topics that bring reality all too soon to their attention. School shootings, bombings, even political issues are becoming daily topics of conversations amongst adults, on TV and the internet. These are issues that your kids may hear and wonder about. They may be scared or confused, but don’t know how to talk about it. Here are some ways to speak about these adult topics to your children

Be open

Make sure your kids know they can come to you with any questions about any topic, no matter how sensitive it may be.

Autonomous ships will not become a mainstream reality in the next few years due to unresolved cyber-security issues on the technology believes Lar Jensen ceo of CyberKeel.
Jensen highlighted the issues that have been discovered with cyber-security the addition of